percentage(whatever it is) of big-bucks SLRs to get out the door
with a BASIC performance issue(it's a CAMERA, ...it needs to FOCUS,

My personal experience is that Canon's quality control needs some improvement. I finally bought a 1D back in early November. The first two I had showed banding on half of the frame at ISO 1600 or ISO 3200. The problem was intermittent, and most easily seen in areas of flat color. Since one of the reasons I wanted a 1D was to be able to shoot at high ISO when necessary, the defect was unacceptable to me, and I returned the bodies to B&H. They were great about issuing RMAs; however it was necessary to wait until the defective camera was returned before they would send out another body. The whole process took several weeks. I now have a 1D that has (knock wood) been trouble free, and does not show half frame banding, but it took 3 tries. Seems unreasonable to me for (what was) a $4300 camera body.
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sasand